Just today when we went to Costco our 2016 Kia Sedona SX started making a very loud crunching or cracking noise from the front drive train when I accelerate from a standstill with the wheels turned. I checked it to when I get home and the noise is there when we turn the wheels left or right and begin to accelerate forward or backwards. Seems to be coming from the right front in all instances but has never done it prior to today. My experience tells me that it's a defective axle shafts joint but there's only a little over 12,000 km on the van and my wife babies the thing. As mentioned in another complaint, there is an appointment at the Kia Dealer to get a rear noise looked at on March 3rd so hopefully they can fix it ASAP and get the van back to us because we just can't do without it.
Update from Mar 3, 2016: Ok, we had an appointment at our local Kia Dealer this morning (March 3, 2016) to have the noise checked out on our 2016 Sedona. Only 2 hours after dropping the vehicle off, we got a call to notify us that the van had nothing wrong with it and that it was driving normally. No noise in the front and no noise at the rear. Amazing!
I had to leave work and take the technician on a test drive to explain what the noises were. The first thing I did was turn the wheels on the van and accelerated. The noise presented itself like I said it would and to my surprise, the technician admitted to hearing the noise before I got there and said that there was nothing they could do about it and that it was normal. He continued to say that when he heard the noise, he took out another 2016 Sedona that was still on the lot for sale and that van made the same noise.
The technician was very polite and seem to be very knowledgeable but I simply won't just live with it because the other van on the lot makes the same noise. My 2003 Grand Caravan with 280,000 Km doesn't do it and neither did my 1999 Hyundia Elantra with 175,000 Km on it. They are clearly defective axles or not designed for the steering angle present in these vans.
In fact, The technician mentioned that there was a recall on the Serento front axles but in my case, the dealer says there is nothing they can do and they are suggesting that I simply wait and see if Kia recalls the Sedona axles. I have a couple of problems with this. One, I'm concerned that we are going to cause serious driveline damage that may actually cost us money. Two, I'm concerned that the axles may bind and break, leaving my wife stranded or cause loss of control and injury.
This simply won't do and I'm am contacting Kia Canada about the issue immediately.
Update from Mar 25, 2016: An update on my 2016 Sedona SX axle problems.
I got the van back from the dealer yesterday after dropping it off the day before and the axle problem is fixed! The front noise which I suspected was defective CV axle shafts was indeed defective CV axles shafts. Both front CV axles were binding and making noise. After a half hour ride with a second technician, he was able to hear and fairly quickly confirm that I was not just hearing things and that it was a potentially serious issue. After the repair, the technician noted that the original axles were quite stiff and rough feeling. They actually had to take three other 2016 Sedona vans off their lot and test drive them before they found one with good axle shafts and so they removed the axle shafts from that van to get me back on the road.
I plan to let the service manager know that the technician deserves credit for a job well done as the first technician could not find, nor did he appear to care about the issue. As he indicated that the noise was normal, he clearly did not know what he was doing.
The second technician even mentioned that the van just felt better rolling down the road and turning. I feel it to, perhaps due to less rolling resistance, perhaps it's just psychological.
The van currently has 14,600 Km on the odometer. There is a clear issue with the front CV axles on these vans so look out for a possible recall on Sedona front CV axle shafts in the future.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Just today when we went to Costco our 2016 Kia Sedona SX started making a very loud crunching or cracking noise from the front drive train when I accelerate from a standstill with the wheels turned. I checked it to when I get home and the noise is there when we turn the wheels left or right and begin to accelerate forward or backwards. Seems to be coming from the right front in all instances but has never done it prior to today. My experience tells me that it's a defective axle shafts joint but there's only a little over 12,000 km on the van and my wife babies the thing. As mentioned in another complaint, there is an appointment at the Kia Dealer to get a rear noise looked at on March 3rd so hopefully they can fix it ASAP and get the van back to us because we just can't do without it.
Update from Mar 3, 2016: Ok, we had an appointment at our local Kia Dealer this morning (March 3, 2016) to have the noise checked out on our 2016 Sedona. Only 2 hours after dropping the vehicle off, we got a call to notify us that the van had nothing wrong with it and that it was driving normally. No noise in the front and no noise at the rear. Amazing! I had to leave work and take the technician on a test drive to explain what the noises were. The first thing I did was turn the wheels on the van and accelerated. The noise presented itself like I said it would and to my surprise, the technician admitted to hearing the noise before I got there and said that there was nothing they could do about it and that it was normal. He continued to say that when he heard the noise, he took out another 2016 Sedona that was still on the lot for sale and that van made the same noise. The technician was very polite and seem to be very knowledgeable but I simply won't just live with it because the other van on the lot makes the same noise. My 2003 Grand Caravan with 280,000 Km doesn't do it and neither did my 1999 Hyundia Elantra with 175,000 Km on it. They are clearly defective axles or not designed for the steering angle present in these vans. In fact, The technician mentioned that there was a recall on the Serento front axles but in my case, the dealer says there is nothing they can do and they are suggesting that I simply wait and see if Kia recalls the Sedona axles. I have a couple of problems with this. One, I'm concerned that we are going to cause serious driveline damage that may actually cost us money. Two, I'm concerned that the axles may bind and break, leaving my wife stranded or cause loss of control and injury. This simply won't do and I'm am contacting Kia Canada about the issue immediately.
Update from Mar 25, 2016: An update on my 2016 Sedona SX axle problems.
I got the van back from the dealer yesterday after dropping it off the day before and the axle problem is fixed! The front noise which I suspected was defective CV axle shafts was indeed defective CV axles shafts. Both front CV axles were binding and making noise. After a half hour ride with a second technician, he was able to hear and fairly quickly confirm that I was not just hearing things and that it was a potentially serious issue. After the repair, the technician noted that the original axles were quite stiff and rough feeling. They actually had to take three other 2016 Sedona vans off their lot and test drive them before they found one with good axle shafts and so they removed the axle shafts from that van to get me back on the road.
I plan to let the service manager know that the technician deserves credit for a job well done as the first technician could not find, nor did he appear to care about the issue. As he indicated that the noise was normal, he clearly did not know what he was doing. The second technician even mentioned that the van just felt better rolling down the road and turning. I feel it to, perhaps due to less rolling resistance, perhaps it's just psychological.
The van currently has 14,600 Km on the odometer. There is a clear issue with the front CV axles on these vans so look out for a possible recall on Sedona front CV axle shafts in the future.
- Scott F., Portugal Cove, NL, Canada